In 1978, Freweini Mebrahtu, at the age of 13, saw flush for the first time, and she was terrified and at a loss.
She remembered what her grandmother had once told her mother: "Menstruation is a curse God gave to women, which means she has to get married, otherwise she is a bad girl."
So she kept this "bad news" a secret and hid it carefully. Without sanitary napkins, she used coarse cloth or hay instead.
Now, Mebrahtu is 54 years old, but she can still clearly remember the countless embarrassing situations she had to face when she had her period during her student days.
However, the ancient "curse" does not seem to have worked on Mebrahtu.
In 1983, she was admitted to an American university to study chemical engineering. The moment she stepped into an American pharmacy, she was stunned: she realized there were so many choices of sanitary napkins!
But if she had never come here, she might have spent her whole life like other girls in her hometown, enduring difficult menstrual periods on cheap coarse cloth or even hay.
Knowledge truly does change one's destiny.
In fact, the idea of the "menstrual curse" is not only prevalent in Mebrahtu's homeland, Ethiopia.
In many countries, menstruation is considered taboo, schools do not teach any about it, and girls will not talk to anyone about their "embarrassing" experiences.
In these places, disposable sanitary napkins are a luxury; for example, only 25% of women in Ethiopia can afford them.
Statistics have shown that one in ten girls misses school due to menstruation, eventually having to drop out due to excessive academic setbacks. In remote areas, this figure can reach 50%.
However, Mebrahtu did not believe in curses.
In 2005, she designed a sanitary napkin that could be reused for two years.
These removable and washable sanitary napkins have a waterproof back and an absorbent pure cotton lining. They can also be folded down into a small individual pack, making them very convenient and environmentally friendly. The price is also very low, costing almost 10% of the price of disposable sanitary napkins per year.
By 2009, this sanitary napkin had brought convenience to nearly 800,000 girls.
Currently, Mebrahtu and her production team manufacture 750,000 sanitary napkins annually, 80% of which are sold to non-profit organizations. These organizations then distribute the purchased sanitary napkins free of charge to local women.
But sanitary napkins don't seem to address the core issue. Behind the "menstrual curse" lies the deprivation of women's basic rights, the prevention of them from going out to earn a living, and a vicious cycle of ignorance and closed-mindedness.
In 2014, Dr. Lewis Wall, who was in the United States, saw Mebrahtu's efforts and decided to help this great Ethiopian woman.
Dr. Lewis and his wife founded a non-profit organization called "Menstrual Dignity" and partnered with Merck University to promote menstrual awareness in local schools.
They want to let not only girls know, but also boys understand: menstruation is not something shameful; it is a perfectly normal physiological response for women.
Dr. Lewis's nonprofit also distributed free Mebrahtu sanitary pads to at least 150,000 girls. The results were encouraging: school attendance increased by 24%.
For Mebrahtu, producing sanitary napkins not only means providing local women with a job that they can support themselves, but also giving them freedom.
This freedom allows them to confidently face men their own age, to not worry about their children dropping out of school because they can't afford tuition, and to understand that they deserve a better life.
Recalling the difficulties of starting her business, Mebrahtu said, "When I started my business in 2005, no one believed in me, and no one was willing to fund me because they thought no one would buy this product. I had to do everything I could to convince them one by one that sanitary napkins are a necessity for women. I knew it wasn't an easy thing, but someone had to do it. And if I didn't do it, then maybe no one would do it at all."
Further Reading
The earliest sanitary napkins can be traced back to 1550 BC, when Egyptian women used softened papyrus leaves as tampons.
The modern sanitary napkin was invented by an American man who loved his wife dearly. He accidentally discovered that wrapping clean cotton fibers and highly absorbent pulp in soft cloth to make a long strip of pad could alleviate his wife's menstrual pain and inconvenience.
Usage tips:
1. Always wash your hands thoroughly before using sanitary napkins to prevent germs from spreading to them.
2. After two hours of continuous use, the total number of bacteria on the surface of a regular sanitary napkin can reach 107 CFU/cm³. Therefore, changing sanitary napkins frequently is very important for gynecological health.
3. When the flow is heavy, it is best to change the vulva every 2-3 hours. When the flow is light, do not change it for more than 4-5 hours. Even when you are menstruating, you should clean your vulva every day. The more you menstruate, the more you should pay attention to cleaning.
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